Major Information

The field of Civil Engineering has long been known for its breadth and ability to adapt to the new technological needs of society. The traditional areas of public works, such as highways, bridges, water supply, building design, and wastewater treatment, remain very important. In addition, the modern area of managing the environment has been included in the Civil Engineering domain. Graduates of the majors are prepared for careers with public agencies or private industry and firms involved in planning, design, research and development, or regulation.

The Department has a high bay structures laboratory, which includes an MTS 250 kip testing machine. There are also well-equipped environmental, soils, pavement and hydraulics laboratories. These laboratories include equipment such as an ion chromatograph, atomic absorption spectrometer, environmental chamber, constant rate of stress consolidometer, triaxial units and superpave testing equipment.

The M.C.E. degree provides a student with the opportunity to earn the advanced degree by coursework only. This degrees is recommended for part-time students who find it difficult to do thesis research because of their work commitment or for those who wish to complete degree requirements quickly. Many of the department's graduate courses are offered online or on weekday evenings, which permits working students the opportunity to seek a graduate degree.

Must meet University requirements (see Graduate Admissions) as well as requirements for admission to the major, listed below.

Undergraduate GPA ? 3.0 preferred.

GRE with preferred minimum scores of V 145 (25th percentile), Q 155 (60th percentile), AW 3.0 (15th percentile); or valid fundamentals of engineering (FE) certificate. Verification of FE certification should be obtained from the professional engineering (PE) board where the FE certification was obtained. See the CEE department website for more information: http://www2.eng.usf.edu/cee/graduate/apply.htm.

Major Requirements

The minimum coursework requirement is 30 credit hours for students with an undergraduate engineering degree. Students without an engineering bachelors degree will be required to complete undergraduate engineering pre-requisite courses as determined by the Department.

Pre-requisites 12 hours All students must complete the following pre-requisites or equivalent courses: EGN 3311(3) Statics EGN 3343(3) Thermodynamics I EGN 3353(3) Basic Fluid Mechanics EGN 3615(3) Engineering Economics Most entering students will have taken these courses (or equivalent versions) prior to admission to the M.C.E. major. Students who have not taken these courses prior to beginning the M.C.E. degree program are encouraged to do so as quickly as possible, as these may be pre-requisites for a number of graduate-level courses in the major.

The minimum coursework requirement is 30 graduate level credit hours for students with an undergraduate engineering degree. For students pursuing a specialization area (as detailed below), the 30 credit hours will include at least 15 credit hours of specialization course requirements, with remaining credit hours to consist of core coursework and technical electives as approved by the Department. For students pursuing no specialization area, the 30 credit hours will consist wholly of core coursework and technical electives as approved by the Department, but with a minimum of 18 credit hours taken within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Students without an engineering bachelors degree will be required to complete undergraduate engineering pre-requisite courses as determined by the Department. Please contact the Graduate Director for more information.

Specialization Requirements - 15 hours The Department supports M.C.E. specialization areas in Geotechnical Engineering (GTL), Materials Engineering and Science (MTL), Structures Engineering (STR), Transportation Engineering (TPT), and Water Resources (WRS). Students may select from one of these Specializations, or may select no specialization.

Portfolio / Comprehensive ExamPortfolio and oral interview are used in lieu of a comprehensive exam. The purpose of the portfolio and interview is for students to demonstrate that they have achieved a minimum level of proficiency in stipulated competencies. Specifically, by the time they graduate, students will demonstrate

an ability to plan, compose, and integrate verbal, written, virtual, and graphical communication of a project to technical and non-technical audiences, and

an ability to formulate and solve complex problems in Civil Engineering using relevant data and techniques.

Additional details regarding portfolio requirements will be provided to students by the Department.

Other requirements

A maximum of 12 graduate level credits taken outside the CEE department may be applied to meet the degree requirements.

A maximum of 6 credits of independent study may be applied to meet the degree requirements.

College Degree Requirements

Refer to the College Section of theGraduate Catalog for College requirements and information.

USF Degree Requirements

Financial Assistance

Registration Process

First, contact your graduate advisor for guidance courses to register for. Obtain any electronic course permit if necessary. Register for the new student orientation online at http://www.grad.usf.edu/orientation.php. Then go to http://oasis.usf.edu/ the link to OASIS, USF's on-line registration system to register for your classes. Follow the directions given on-line.

To access online course materials, students must have a USF NetID (e-mail account). Please visit: https://netid.usf.edu/una/ to obtain your NetID.